You, and your plants, could do with a cuppa

Edibles

Vegetables will love regular feeding all summer long. Make your own fertiliser tea by soaking comfrey, stinging nettle, seaweed and horse manure in a large container of water.

After two to three weeks it will be ready to apply to plants. Dilute first to the strength of weak tea. You can keep adding water and ingredients to the container ad infinitum.

Adding seaweed to compost tea is particularly good if applying to brassicas and beets, all of which have their origins in coastal regions. Failing that, some gardeners sprinkle a little common household salt around these plants.

As tomatoes ripen, thin out lower leaves to let light and air in to the fruit. This hastens ripening and helps prevent diseases.

Keep sowing regularly small quantities of basil, beetroot, carrot, coriander, lettuce, spring onions and the like to ensure you always have some at the ready.

After harvest, spray stone fruit trees with copper and prune if need be.

If your sweetcorn is growing in a particularly sheltered spot there may not be enough wind to pollinate the flowers.

Male flowers grow and open at the top of the plants; females off the stems. When the male flowers form branches, shake to dislodge pollen which will fall onto female flowers.

For the best flavour and texture, fruit is best picked as ripe as possible. In stone fruit this is usually when the skin has coloured and the flesh nears the stalk feels soft.

Ornamentals

Sow spring flower seeds. Set aside a small, cooler area in the garden to grow them on. Then, when bigger, they can be planted out. To lessen the likelihood of black spot, give roses a side dressing of potash.

In hot dry weather, containergrown plants may need watering twice a day. The smaller the pot, the faster it dries out.

Cut back achillea, coreopsis, rudbeckia, scabiosa, shasta daisies, ladies’ mantle, and salvias after flowering to encourage a healthy crop of blooms in early autumn. Many of these perennials will flower again without trimming, or continue to sporadically bloom, but the display will be neither as vigorous or as impressive. Don’t forget to make time to enjoy your garden, now it is looking so pretty. Head out with a cup of tea or a glass of wine, a book or a magazine – or with your thoughts or a friend – and appreciate the rewards of all your labours. – Mary Lovell-Smith

Nettle tea – a fertiliser made from soaking stinging nettles in water – will benefit your garden. You might prefer to sip a regular brew as you admire your work.

Alyssum is easy to grow from seed.